Sunday, November 9, 2014

Kristallnacht: The Night of the Broken Glass

The horrors of the holocaust
were dark chapters in the history of mankind. Millions of Jews were killed. Brutally
carried out by Nazis under Adolf Hitler. Dachau and Auschwitz were just some of
the concentration camps where atrocities towards the Jews were committed. But
in the 1930’s there were already signs of this brutality. In 1938, the Nazis
instigated the so-called Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass.The Night of the Broken
Glass, or Kristallnacht in German, was violent attacks on Jewish properties. It
occurred on the days of November 9 to 10, 1938 in both Germany and Austria. It
was a Pogrom, a display of hatred of the Jewish community in the two countries.
Jewish stores and synagogues were destroyed and vandalized under the process.

The events leading to
Kristallnacht already showed the possibility of violence against the Jews. In
1933, Adolf Hitler rose to power. He and his Nazi party promoted anti-Semitic
ideas. They saw the Jews as diluting their superior Aryan race. Hence, they
launch laws that would harass Jews in Germany. Hitler instituted the so-called
Nuremberg Laws. Under these laws, Jews were removed from government service.
Their citizenship revoked. And with the laws, Jewish ghettoes began to appear.
Some recent Jewish immigrants were unlucky. Most of them, from Poland, were
deported back to their home country and lived in poverty. Many young Jews
resented the whole event.

On November 7, 1938, an
attack would occur that would eventually lead to the events of Kristallnacht.
On that day, in Paris, France, an embassy official named Ernst von Rath was
attacked, shot, and killed by a young 16 year old Jew named Hershel Grynszpan.
Grynszpan’s intention was revenge. Germany’s policy of deporting Polish Jews
back to the border left Grynszpan’s family to live in misery. Grynszpan was in
France as he sought refuge from the increasing violence against the Jews in
Germany. And when he saw the opportunity to show his frustration and anger, he
took it.

However, Grynszpan’s action
did not brought change for the better. It led to further violence and brutality
against the Jews in Germany and also, the newly annexed Austria. On the
following night, riots broke out across Germany and Austria. Angry mobs
attacked Jewish properties, houses, shops, warehouses, and businesses. Many
Jews were unlucky and were killed. Many Jews were also arrested and sent to infamous
concentration camps like Dachau and Buchenwald. Synagogues, Jewish cemeteries
and schools did not also faced mercy from the furry.

The Nazi Party was very
involved in the violence. Sources showed that Nazi officials held secret
meetings and incited the people to riot and attack Jewish properties. The
Gestapo and local police were also ordered not to interfere or control the
violence. It became a state sponsored ruckus.

For two nights, Germany and
Austria saw so much violence. After the riots of the night, the roads and
streets of major cities were filled with broken glasses from the destroyed
shops and businesses of the Jews. Thus, from the litters of glasses, the two
nights became infamously called the Night of the Broken Glass. In the end, according
to SS reports, 30,000 Jews were arrested. 815 shops owned by Jews destroyed.
More than 260 synagogues, cemeteries, and schools for Jews vandalized. 91 Jews
killed. 7,500 Jewish-owned business attacked. Estimated cost of damage – 25
million Reich marks. Because it came from an SS report, the figures might be
higher.

Many Jews feared for their lives. Many fled to neighboring countries, like Poland and France. But many wanted to feel more safe and took the hardship and price to migrate across the Atlantic to the United States.

Meanwhile, adding insult to injury,
Hitler’s government did not compensated the Jews for the damage. On the
contrary, Hitler made the Jews pay for their own miseries. He wanted the Jews
to pay 1 billion Reich marks as “reparation” for the troubles they caused. In
the process, 20% of wealth and properties of German Jews were confiscated.
Also, new laws were instituted that further isolated the Jews. They were banned
in going to school. Surviving business owned by Jews were confiscated and
distributed to Aryan businessmen. Moreover, Jews were banned from going to
public places like beaches and theaters. The Kristallnacht was just a small
part of a bigger story of genocide committed by Nazi Germany.